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TRUTH IN ADVERTISING
On-Line Veterinary Pharmacies...
Harmony Hospital for Pets
309 W. Harmony Road - Fort Collins, CO 80526
(970) 226-1524 - hhpreception@frii.com
Jerry White, DVM
Sharon Staples, DVM
Tom Welsh, DVM
"HOT TOPICS"
This section features "hot topics" that out practice become aware of. They may include disease alerts, new products, food recalls, general informative topics or topics that are generating conversations. If you have a topic you like to see covered, feel free to send us an email.
Less Expensive than Your Veterinarian: FALSE!
The goal of most practicing veterinarians is to make a reasonable profit while providing safe, high quality medications for their patients. This requires medical knowledge, time to understand the patient and their environment, as well as a significant cost investment for inventory and staff support to prepare prescriptions. Even with this personal investment, most veterinarians very effectively compete with the on-line services. Check it out-- in many cases you will find we are even LESS than the Internet.Equal Quality Products: FALSE!
Private practices maintain small inventories with a rapid turnover rate of fresh product. Medications come directly from the manufacturer and are maintained in a quality controlled environment. Online pharmacies maintain huge warehouses of stored product. Much of this product does not come directly from the manufacturer, but is recycled through intermediate buyers and sometimes even foreign countries. Recycled product is exposed to repetitive shipping and potentially less than optimum environmental conditions. Do you want second hand medications for your animal companion?No Delay and Free Shipping: FALSE!
Medications dispensed from your own private practice are usually available within 24 hours of your request and often within hours. Through an online pharmacy, the time delay can be up to a week. When you call an internet pharmacy or order online, the pharmacy must send a Rx verification request to your veterinarian in order to fill the script. The veterinarian involved takes their time to pull and review the patient's file, determine the safety of the request (assuming the information we have regarding current meds and supplements is accurate since we last saw the animal), accept liability of the decision to script the medication, and then fax an authorization to the online pharmacy.In doing so, that veterinarian donates their time, patient knowledge, and medical liability at no charge. The online pharmacy then takes the dollars circumvented from the private practice and supposedly gives it back to you in the form of specials and free shipping. In addition, many oh these online pharmacies charge for shipping on orders under $50, and free shipping only applies to standard ground shipping which can take anywhere from 3-7 days.Products That Come From a Company That Cares: FALSE!
Online pharmacies have no time or thought invested in the health of your pet. The person you talk to has never met you and the person that puts the drugs together doesn't know if it's for a cat or dog, let alone what breed they are or what their special medical needs might be. Finally, the person who ships it simply knows they can't give it to Fed Ex until they confirm you have paid for it. Have you ever tried to return a product to an online pharmacy?Our Commitment to YOU!
The doctors and staff at Harmony Hospital for Pets view you and your animal companions as part of our special family. We work hard to meet your needs, no matter how simple or demanding they may be. Because we care, we gladly donate hours of our time to record keeping, staff continuing education, telephone consultations, and patient follow-up communication. When we are more than capable to meet your pets' food, supplement, and medicinal needs at a competitive price-- we request and appreciate your financial support.Thank You!
Dr. White,DVM
